Squarepoint Ops LLC Acquires 206,051 Shares of Lazard, Inc. $LAZ

Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its holdings in Lazard, Inc. (NYSE:LAZ) by 59.2% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 554,285 shares of the asset manager’s stock after acquiring an additional 206,051 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Lazard were worth $23,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Lazard during the second quarter worth approximately $379,092,000. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Lazard by 3,959.6% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 4,555,229 shares of the asset manager’s stock worth $191,046,000 after buying an additional 4,443,020 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 4th quarter worth approximately $80,169,000. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Lazard during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,275,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Lazard by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 8,807,320 shares of the asset manager’s stock valued at $427,685,000 after acquiring an additional 1,047,869 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 54.80% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Peter Orszag sold 125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.52, for a total transaction of $5,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 260,942 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,356,195.84. The trade was a 32.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 0.95% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Lazard in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Lazard from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Lazard from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on shares of Lazard in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating on shares of Lazard in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $50.38.

Lazard Price Performance

Shares of LAZ opened at $43.98 on Wednesday. Lazard, Inc. has a 12-month low of $38.67 and a 12-month high of $58.75. The business’s fifty day moving average is $43.20 and its 200 day moving average is $44.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.84, a current ratio of 2.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87. The stock has a market cap of $4.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.43.

Lazard (NYSE:LAZ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 24th. The asset manager reported $0.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.22). The business had revenue of $786.47 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $736.29 million. Lazard had a net margin of 6.95% and a return on equity of 23.58%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Lazard, Inc. will post 2.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Lazard Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 14th. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 3rd. Lazard’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.04%.

About Lazard

Lazard Ltd. (NYSE: LAZ) is a leading global financial advisory and asset management firm, offering a comprehensive suite of services to corporations, governments and individuals. Founded in 1848, Lazard has built a reputation for providing independent advice and innovative solutions in complex financial transactions. The firm is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol LAZ and maintains its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda.

In its Financial Advisory segment, Lazard assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, restructurings, capital structure optimization and strategic planning.